Systems and methods for using an interactive television program guide to access fantasy sports contests

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for using an interactive television program guide application to access fantasy sports contests are presented. In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive television program guide application may display information indicating to a user that one or more programs is related to a fantasy sports contest. In some embodiments of the present invention, the application may provide to the user a schedule of programs related to one or more fantasy sports contests in which the user participates. The application may provide additional features to fantasy sports contestants including automatic recording of programs related to a user&#39;s fantasy sports contest, playback of highlight video clips for events that affect a user&#39;s fantasy sports contest standing, and targeted advertisements for fantasy sports contests.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/234,727, filed Aug. 30, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,028,315, which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to interactive television program guides, andmore particularly, this invention relates to systems and methods forusing an interactive television program guide application to accessfantasy sports contests.

In known fantasy sports contests, a user (i.e., a fantasy sportscontestant) selects a roster, a team, a particular individual, or agroup of individuals in a season-long athletic competition. Fantasysports contests are typically based on real-life team sports (e.g.,football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, rugby, etc.), real-lifeathletic events in which individuals compete (e.g., golf, tennis,automotive racing, etc.), and real-life sporting events involvinganimals (e.g., horse and dog racing). The user is given the ability totake on the role of a fictional general manager with powers which mayinclude the ability to draft, trade, dismiss and otherwise manage theuser's fantasy sports roster selections.

Known fantasy sports contest systems provide services to users whichinclude providing statistical information for real-life athleticcompetition and tracking users' standings (i.e., rankings) in fantasysports contests. Known fantasy sports contest systems typicallydetermine a user's standing (i.e., ranking) in a fantasy sports contestbased on the performance of the user's fantasy sports roster selectionsin real-life athletic competition. For example, a conventional fantasysports contest system might award five fantasy sports contest points tothe user for every goal scored in real-life by a member of the user'sfantasy sports contest soccer team. Generally, the user who hasaccumulated the most fantasy sports contest points by the conclusion ofa fantasy sports contest (e.g., the end of a real-life athletic season)is the overall winner of that fantasy sports contest.

Fantasy sports contestants typically track closely real-life athleticevents. In particular, because fantasy sports contests are traditionallyintimately tied to real-life athletic competition, a user's performancein a contest often hinges on the user's ability to, for example, planfavorable trades and otherwise knowledgeably control the user's fantasysports team. A fantasy sports contestant traditionally consults with anynumber of sources including newspapers, sports journals, digests, andtelevision in attempts to maximize the user's personal body of knowledgeregarding the user's fantasy sports contest.

Known interactive television program guide systems contribute little tofantasy sports contestants and fantasy sports competition. Inparticular, despite steady growth in the field of interactive televisionprogram guides, known systems have failed to address the issues andconcerns of fantasy sports contestants.

In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide systems andmethods for using an interactive television program guide application toaccess fantasy sports contests.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide systems and methodsfor using an interactive television program guide application to accessfantasy sports contests.

This and other objects are accomplished in accordance with the presentinvention by providing an interactive television program guideapplication that provides fantasy sports contest information to a user.

Systems and methods for using an interactive television program guideapplication to provide fantasy sports contest information to a user areprovided. In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactivetelevision program guide application may determine that a program isrelated to a fantasy sports contest. For example, the application maydetermine that a program relates to a real-life competition or one ormore real-life sports players that affect a fantasy sports contest usingdata received from any suitable source. The application may display tothe user any suitable information to indicate to the user that theprogram is related to the fantasy sports contest such as an indicator ina program listings display screen or other suitable information (e.g.,information for one or more real-life sports players to which theprogram relates, etc.). In embodiments in which the user participates inthe fantasy sports contest to which the program relates, the interactivetelevision program guide application may display to the user informationthat indicates the user's performance (e.g., the user's fantasy sportscontest point total) in response to, for example, a user indication ofthe program listing.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may provide to the user an opportunity to viewa schedule of programs that are related to one or more fantasy sportscontests in which the user participates. Such schedules may include, forexample, any suitable information such as title, channel, names ofreal-life athletes that affect fantasy sports competition, or any othersuitable information.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may schedule fantasy sports-related programsfor automatic recording for the user. The application may determine thata program is related to a fantasy sports contest in which the userparticipates (e.g., a fantasy sports contest for which the user hasfictitiously selected one or more real-life sports players to the user'sfantasy team roster). The application may then, for example, schedulethe program for automatic recording without further process, or mayconsider factors such as a number of the user's fantasy players to whichthe program relates, the program's position in a user-define recordpriority (e.g., which may indicate, for example, that programs for theuser's fantasy baseball contest are recorded with higher priority thanprograms of the user's fantasy basketball contest), or based on anyother suitable criteria or combination thereof.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may display to the user information for eventsthat occur in programs related to a fantasy sports contest in which theuser participates. An event may correspond to, for example, anaccumulation of a statistic by a real-life player that has beenfictitiously drafted to the user's fantasy team roster. For example, theapplication may display to a user a number of fantasy sports contestpoints that the user receives as a result of the event. In someembodiments of the present invention, the application may, for example,record the event using a suitable recording device such as a personalvideo recorder (PVR). The interactive television program guide mayprovide to the user highlight video clips of the events when, forexample, playing back a prerecorded data from the PVR.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may display fantasy sports informationsimultaneously with video for a selected program (e.g., a program withwhich the fantasy sports information is associated). The applicationmay, provide to a user the ability to select a program for viewing. Inresponse to determining that the program relates to a fantasy sportscontest in which the user participates, the application maysimultaneously display the video and its corresponding fantasy sportsinformation (e.g., the fantasy score of the user that is affected byevents associated with the program).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide may display fantasy sports contest data according to auser's location in, for example, the program guide. In response to auser navigating to a portion of a program guide that includes a programrelated to a fantasy sports contest, the application may display anadvertisement targeted to that fantasy sports contest. The applicationmay also target ads for fantasy sports contests based on a maintainedviewing history for the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent upon consideration of the following detailed description, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustrative arrangement for an interactive program guideapplication system that provides access to information for fantasysports contests in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 2-7 are illustrative arrangements of the interactive applicationequipment of FIG. 1 in accordance with various embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 8-9 are illustrative arrangements of the user television equipmentof FIGS. 2-6 in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 is an illustrative interactive television program guideapplication menu display screen in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 11 is an illustrative interactive television program guideapplication listings display screen in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 12 is an illustrative interactive television program guideapplication information display screen in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 13 is an illustrative interactive television program guideapplication fantasy sports-related programs display screen in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is an illustrative interactive television program guideapplication record list display screen in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 15 is an illustrative interactive television program guideapplication record list priority display screen in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 16-18 are illustrative interactive television program guideapplication reminder display screens in accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is an illustrative interactive television program guide fantasysports contest information overlay display screen in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is an illustrative interactive television program guideapplication fantasy sports contest update display screen in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is an illustrative interactive television program guideapplication highlight video display screen in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is an illustrative interactive television program guideapplication flip display screen in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 23 is an illustrative interactive television program guideapplication fantasy sports contest trades display screen in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 24 is an illustrative interactive television program guideapplication fantasy sports contest trade proposal display screen inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 25 is an illustrative interactive television program guideapplication activate fantasy sports contest roster selections displayscreen in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 26-27 are flow charts of illustrative steps involved in using aninteractive television program guide application to provide fantasysports contest information to a user;

FIGS. 28-30 are flow charts of illustrative steps involved in schedulinga program that is related to a fantasy sports contest in which the userparticipates for automatic recording;

FIG. 31 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in providing to auser information for events that affect the user's standing in a fantasysports contest; and

FIG. 32 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in displaying toa user a highlight video for an event that is related to a fantasysports contest in which the user participates.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods for using an interactive television program guide toaccess fantasy sports contests are presented.

Illustrative interactive television program guides are described, forexample, in Knee et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,892, Knudson et al. U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/070,555, filed Apr. 30, 1998, and Knudsonet al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/357,941, filed Jul. 16, 1999,which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

Illustrative fantasy sports contests are described, for example, in U.S.Pat. Nos. 4,918,603 (Hughes, et al.), 5,846,132 (Junkin), 5,971,854(Junkin) and 6,193,610 (Junkin), as well as Hughes et al. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/428,991, filed Oct. 29, 1999, Hughes et al. U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/329,587, filed Oct. 15, 2001, andHughes U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/338,916, filed Nov. 5,2001, which are all hereby incorporated by reference herein in theirentireties.

Fantasy sports contests of the present invention may include anysuitable sports contest in which the user is given the ability to makedecisions that may affect the standing of the user in the sportscontest. For example, in typical team-oriented fantasy sports contests,the user may participate in the capacity of a fictional general manager.In this situation, the user may be have responsibilities such ascreating a team roster (e.g., drafting players), selecting playerpositions, selecting starters, selecting relievers, making trades, andotherwise maintaining the composition of the user's team roster. It willbe understood that any other suitable decision-making capability may begiven to the user in a fantasy sports contest in addition to or in placeof those indicated above.

Fantasy sports contests of the present invention need not be limited orrestricted in time. For example, a fantasy sports contest may last anentire season, a portion of a season, multiple seasons, a definiteperiod of time (e.g., one month, two weeks, three days, one hour, etc.),the duration of a particular event (e.g., Wimbledon, etc.), a portion ofa particular event, or any other suitable period of time.

In one suitable approach, fantasy sports contests of the presentinvention may include contests in which the user is not necessarilyplaying the role of a fictional general manager. For example, fantasysports contests may involve the user determining or guessing (i.e.,blindly or with calculation) whether particular outcomes will occur(e.g., whether a particular golfer will make the next putt). Any suchsuitable decision-making may be the basis of a fantasy sports contest ora part of a fantasy sports contest.

Fantasy sports contests of the present invention may use any suitableone or more scoring systems. For example, existing fantasy scoringsystems include straight point systems (e.g., points are awarded andsubtracted based on real-life plays without regard to the performance ofother players on other fantasy teams in a league), rotisserie systems(e.g., points are awarded based on the user's relative ranking againstother users), and head-to-head systems (e.g., users in a league arematched against one another in a round-robin series of one-on-onecontests during the course of a season). These are merely illustrativescoring systems. Any other suitable scoring system may be used in thefantasy sports contests of the present invention.

It will be understood that the above are merely illustrative elements offantasy sports contests. Any other suitable arrangement or approach maybe used. It will further be understood that the nature of the fantasysports contests may vary depending on which activity or sport isinvolved or based on any other suitable criteria.

The present invention is primarily described herein in terms of aninteractive television program guide application. The interactivetelevision program guide application may be any suitable software,hardware, or both that may be used to implement the features of presentinvention. It will be understood that any other suitable software,hardware, or both (e.g., a fantasy sports contest application) may beused in conjunction with the interactive television program guideapplication or in place of the interactive television program guideapplication to implement some or all of the features of the presentinvention.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative system 100 for providing interactivetelevision program guides and fantasy sports contests in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention. Main facility 102 may provideprogram guide data and fantasy sports contest data from program guideand fantasy sports contest data source 104 to interactive applicationequipment 106 via communications path 108. There may be numerousinstallations of interactive application equipment 106, although onlyone is shown in FIG. 1 to avoid over-complicating the drawing. Programguide and fantasy sports contest data source 104 of main facility 102may be any suitable computer or computer-based system for generating,storing, or obtaining program guide data (e.g., manually from anoperator, electronically via a computer network or other connection, orvia storage media) and putting the data into electronic form fordistribution by main facility 102. In the example of FIG. 1, programguide and fantasy sports contest data source 104 provides both programguide data and fantasy sports contest data. In other embodiments of thepresent invention, program guide data and fantasy sports contest datamay be provided by separate data sources.

Program guide data may include, for example, titles, channels, and timesof scheduled programs, descriptions of scheduled programs, pay-per-viewprogram data, on-demand media data, and any other data for theinteractive television program guide (e.g., data indicating a list ofprograms scheduled for automatic recording or reminding, a list ofprograms that are related to a fantasy sports contest in which the userparticipates, advertisements, etc.).

Fantasy sports contest data may include, for example, rules data,statistics data, contest data, and any other data for one or morefantasy sports contests and fantasy sports contestants. For example,fantasy sports contest data may include rules data that governs userparticipation in fantasy sports contests (e.g., data indicating amaximum number of fantasy sports contests that a user may participatein, a maximum number of fantasy sports contest trades that may be madein a week or other duration of time, whether a user is permitted toparticipate in fantasy sports contests that award cash or non-cashprizes, other fantasy sports contest options, etc.). As another example,fantasy sports contest data may include statistics data for real-lifeathletic events and athletes (e.g., data indicating real-life sportsscores and other outcomes of real-life athletic events, trades ofreal-life athletes, real-life athletes that are disabled or ineligibledue to injury or expulsion, a real-life athlete's statistics for anathletic season, portion of an athletic season, or multiple athleticseasons, etc.). The real-life statistics data may be used to, forexample, determine various fantasy sports contest options and settings(e.g., the fantasy players available for roster selection, the salariesof fantasy sports roster selections, a fantasy sports contestant'sfantasy point total, etc.). Fantasy sports contest data may also includecontest data that indicates, for example, a list of fantasy sportscontestants of a particular fantasy sports contest league, fantasysports contest standings, a list of roster selections (e.g., sportsplayers) of a particular fantasy sports contestant, or any other dataspecific to one or more fantasy sports contests or fantasy sportscontestants.

The above description of program guide data and fantasy sports contestdata is merely illustrative. Program guide and fantasy sports contestdata of the present invention may include any suitable data that is usedby the interactive television program guide to provide to the user theability to access one or more of fantasy sports contests and theinteractive television program guide. It will be understood that, insome instances, the distinction between program guide data and fantasysports contest data may be in name only (e.g., in instances in which thesame data may be used to, for example, determine the list of real-lifeplayers that have been fictitiously selected to the user's fantasy teamroster and to determine which programs are related to a fantasy sportscontest of the user).

In some embodiments of the present invention, data sources may belocated at facilities separate from main facility 102. For example,external data service 110 may provide data to main facility 102 viacommunications path 112 for distribution. External data service 110 maybe any facility suitable for providing data for the interactivetelevision program guide application to main facility 102 overcommunications path 112. External data service 110 may provide, forexample, fantasy sports contest data (e.g., contest data that indicatesa list of athletic players that are available for selection by a user).As another example, external data service may provide advertisement data(e.g., data for advertisements that are targeted to current or potentialfantasy sports contestants). Still another example, external dataservice may provide statistics data (e.g., statistics data for real-lifeathletic events and athletes), news data (e.g., for sports eventsrelated to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates), orany other data for the interactive television program guide application.External data service 110 may be, for example, a television network orcable system headend. In some embodiments of the present invention,external data service 110 may provide data relevant to a particularlocality, such as a local newspaper that distributes local news such aslocal sports scores or a weather station that reports local weatherdata.

External data service 110 may contain external data source 114. Externaldata source 114 may be any suitable computer or computer-based systemfor generating, storing, or obtaining data for the interactivetelevision program guide application (e.g., manually from an operator,electronically via a computer network or other connection, or viastorage media) and putting the data into electronic form fordistribution to main facility 102 or other facility.

Multiple external data services 110 and multiple communications paths112 may provide data to main facility 102. Only one external dataservice 110 and one communications path 112 have been shown in FIG. 1,however, to avoid over-complicating the drawing. Main facility 102 maytransmit data received from external data service 110 to interactiveapplication equipment 106 over communications path 108. In someembodiments of the present invention, external data service 110 mayprovide data directly to interactive application equipment 106.

Communications paths 108 and 112 may be satellite communications paths,fiber-optic paths, coaxial cable paths, radio frequency paths,electromagnetic communications paths, microwave communications paths,Internet paths, or any other suitable wired or wireless communicationspath or combination of such paths. Communications paths 108 and 112 mayhave sufficient bandwidth to transmit video signals.

Main facility 102 may transmit program guide and fantasy sports contestdata to interactive application equipment 106 using any suitableapproach or combination of approaches. For example, main facility 102may distribute program guide and fantasy sports contest dataperiodically, continuously, or using any other suitable approach. Asanother example, real-life sports scores and sports updates (e.g., arecap of the events for a particular sports game) may be transmitted tointeractive application equipment 106 in a time-delayed fashion. In someembodiments of the present invention, certain portions of the programguide and fantasy sports contest data may be transmitted using a firstapproach, whereas certain other portions of the program guide andfantasy sports contest data may be transmitted using a second approach.For example, advertisements for programs related to a fantasy sportscontest in which the user participates and sports scores for real-lifeathletic events related the fantasy sports contest may be transmitted tothe user continuously (e.g., in real-time when the real-life athleticevents are taking place), whereas program listings data and fantasysports contest rules data may be transmitted to the user periodically.Program guide and fantasy sports contest data may be distributeddiscretely as separate files or packets, or may be distributed in acontinuous data stream (e.g., using a carousel-based approach).

In some embodiments of the present invention, main facility 102 maytransmit fantasy sports contest data separate from program guide data.Fantasy sports contest data and program guide data may be provided bymain facility 102 using different approaches. For example, main facility102 may provide certain portions of the fantasy sports contest data(e.g., real-life sports scores, data indicating a user's performance ina fantasy sports contest, etc.) in a continuous data stream (e.g., usinga carousel-based approach) while providing program guide data (e.g.,program listings) periodically or on-demand using a client-server basedapproach. Any suitable combination of approaches may be used.

In some embodiments of the present invention, main facility 102 may, forexample, provide program guide and fantasy sports contest data tointeractive application equipment 106 as part of schedule localizations.Examples of systems that utilize schedule localizations are described inBorges et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,760,821, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety. Periodic schedule localizations mayupdate program listings, fantasy sports scores, real-life athleticscores, and other data for the interactive television program guideapplication with any suitable frequency (e.g., daily, weekly,continuously, etc.), allowing information from a central facility, suchas main facility 102, to be received and processed at local facilities,such as those of interactive application equipment 106. Schedulelocalizations may be utilized to provide program guide and fantasysports contest application data to interactive application equipment 106when the frequency of schedule localization permits.

Main facility 102 may store reusable interactive application equipmentlists. The lists may include identifiers of multiple installations ofinteractive application equipment 106 (e.g., cable headends, individualsubscriber units, etc.) that occupy a common locality, region orcoverage area, or that receive data for the same set of televisionchannels (e.g., via satellite). The lists may also include identifiersof multiple installations of interactive application equipment 106 thatreceive data for the same one or more fantasy sports contests (e.g.,each of the installations of interactive application equipment 106providing the data to at least one member of the one or more fantasysports contests).

Main facility 102 may use stored interactive application equipment liststo specify the scope of schedule localization transmissions. Forexample, main facility 102 may utilize an interactive applicationequipment list to localize program guide and fantasy sports contest datato the installations of interactive application equipment 106 specifiedby the list. In addition, main facility 102 may create new interactiveapplication equipment lists in the event that no existing list satisfiesthe desired scope of a schedule localization transmission (e.g., when anew fantasy sports contest includes contestants whose correspondinginteractive application equipment had not previously been grouped in thesame list). Main facility 102 may also update existing interactiveapplication equipment lists (e.g., to include a user that enters afantasy sports contest mid-season, to identify that the list addressescontestants of a new fantasy sports contest league that had previouslybeen contestants of another fantasy sports contest league, etc.). Mainfacility 102 may also delete interactive application equipment listsonce they have become obsolete or are no longer needed (e.g., when afantasy sports contest has concluded).

An illustrative arrangement for interactive application equipment 106 isshown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, interactive application equipment 106 mayinclude distribution facility 202. Distribution facility 202 may be anysuitable distribution facility (e.g., a cable system headend, asatellite distribution facility, a broadcast distribution facility, orany other suitable type of distribution facility) capable of providingprogram guide and fantasy sports contest data to user televisionequipment 204. Interactive application equipment 106 may includemultiple installations of distribution facilities 202 and multipleinstallations of user television equipment 204, but only one of eachhave been included in FIG. 2 to avoid over-complicating the drawing.

Distribution facility 202 may receive program guide and fantasy sportscontest data from main facility 102 (FIG. 1), from an external dataservice such as external data service 110 (FIG. 1), or from any othersuitable facility or location. In some embodiments of the presentinvention, distribution facility 202 may generate one or more of programguide data and fantasy sports data. For example, a computer atdistribution facility 204 may generate (or an operator at such acomputer may input) program listings data for local programming orfantasy sports contest rules data for contestants in a particularlocality.

Distribution facility 202 may include distribution equipment 206.Distribution equipment 206 may be any equipment suitable fordistributing program guide data to user television equipment 204.Distribution equipment 206 may include, for example, suitabletransmission hardware for distributing program guide data on atelevision channel sideband, in the vertical blanking interval of atelevision channel, using an in-band digital signal, using anout-of-band digital signal, or by any other suitable data transmissiontechnique. Distribution equipment 206 may transmit analog or digitalsignals comprising programming guide data to user television equipment204 on multiple television channels.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may be at least partially implemented bydistribution facility 202. For example, portions of the interactivetelevision program guide application that implement features involved inthe processing of user equipment requests and in the tracking of theperformance of fantasy sports contestants may be implemented bydistribution facility 202. In some embodiments of the present invention,the interactive television program guide application may be at leastpartially implemented by user television equipment 204. For example,portions of the interactive television program guide application thatimplement features involved in user interaction may be implemented byuser television equipment 204. The two portions of the interactivetelevision program guide application may communicate using any suitablepeer-to-peer communications scheme (e.g., messaging, remote functioncalls, etc.) and may perform interactive application functionsdistributively between distribution facility 202 and user televisionequipment 204.

Distribution facility 202 may provide one or more of program guide data,fantasy sports contest data, video media, and television programming touser television equipment 204 over communications path 208.Communications path 208 may be a satellite communications path, afiber-optic path, a coaxial cable path, a radio frequency path, anelectromagnetic communications path, a microwave communications path, anInternet path, or any other suitable wired or wireless path orcombination of such paths.

In some embodiments of the present invention, distribution facility 202may periodically transmit one or more of program guide and fantasysports contest data to user equipment 204. For example, program guideand fantasy sports contest data may be updated at user televisionequipment 204 daily, weekly, or with any other suitable frequency. Insome embodiments of the present invention, distribution facility 202 maytransmit program guide and fantasy sports contest data to usertelevision equipment 204 in a real-time data stream. For example,fantasy sports contest data such as a sports score for a real-lifeathletic event related to a fantasy sports contest in which the userparticipates and data indicating a user's performance in the fantasysports contest may be transmitted to user television equipment 204 inreal time (i.e., while the event is in progress). As another example,one or more of program guide and fantasy sports contest data may betransmitted to user television equipment 204 in a time-delayed fashion(e.g., sports scores and other data delayed 30 minutes from real-timeevents).

In some embodiments of the present invention, distribution facility 202may transmit program guide data to user television equipment 204continuously in a carousel-based approach, in which portions of programguide and fantasy sports contest data (e.g., listings, pay-per-viewdata, fantasy sports contest standings, etc.) are continuouslybroadcasted in a time-division multiplexed fashion. In some embodimentsof the present invention, main facility 102 (FIG. 1) may utilize aseparate communications link (not shown) to transmit data directly touser equipment 204. In some embodiments of the present invention,distribution facility 202 or another facility or location may transmitone or more of program guide data and fantasy sports contest data touser television equipment 204 in a dedicated channel. Distributionfacility 202 may, for example, transmit advertisements for programsrelated to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates touser television equipment 204 in one or more dedicated channels. Forexample, distribution facility 202 may transmit a promotional video fora Major League Baseball team to user television equipment 204 in adedicated channel if the corresponding user participates in a fantasyMajor League Baseball contest (e.g., and one of the user's fantasysports contest roster selections is a member of that Major LeagueBaseball team). As another example, distribution facility 202 maytransmit highlight video clips for sporting events related to a fantasysports contest in which the user participates to user equipment 204 in adedicated channel.

In some embodiments of the present invention, interactive applicationequipment 106 may obtain program guide and fantasy sports contest datafrom main facility 102 (FIG. 1), external data service 110 (FIG. 1), orany other suitable source of program guide and fantasy sports contestdata via the Internet. An illustrative arrangement of interactiveapplication equipment 106 (FIG. 1) for such an approach is shown in FIG.3. Distribution equipment 206 may obtain one or more of program guidedata and fantasy sports contest data from Internet service system 302.Internet service system 302 may be any combination of hardware andsoftware suitable for providing the program guide and fantasy sportscontest data to distribution equipment 206 from the Internet. Forexample, a sports team or service having access to data for that sportsteam may transmit real-life sports scores, statistics data, and newsdata (e.g., trade data, disabled or ineligible players data, etc.) todistribution facility 202 via the Internet. The interactive televisionprogram guide application may use such data to, for example, determinewhich players are available for trading by a fantasy sports contestantand to determine fantasy sports contest rankings.

Another illustrative Internet-based approach for interactive applicationequipment 106 (FIG. 1) is shown in FIG. 4. In this example, distributionfacility 202 may provide program guide and fantasy sports contest data(e.g., program listings, real-life sports scores, advertisements, etc.)to user television equipment 204 via Internet service system 302 andsuitable communications paths 402 and 404. There may be multipleinstallations of user television equipment 204 and multiple associatedcommunication paths 404, although only one user television equipment 204and communications path 404 are shown in FIG. 4 to avoidover-complicating the drawing.

Internet service system 302 of FIG. 4 may be any suitable combination ofhardware and software capable of providing program guide data fromdistribution equipment 206 to user television equipment 204 using anInternet based approach (e.g., the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)).Communications paths 402 and 404 may have sufficient bandwidth to allowdistribution facility 202 to distribute television programming and othervideo media to user television equipment 204 via Internet service system406. For example, Internet service system 302 may transmit regulartelevision programming and highlight video clips for sporting eventsrelated to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates touser television equipment 204.

Internet service system 302 may provide video, program guide data, andfantasy sports contest data from data sources on the Internet to usertelevision equipment 204. For example, a news data source may providesports news data related to a fantasy sports contest in which the userparticipates to user equipment 204 using Internet service system 302. Insome embodiments of the present invention, main facility 102 (FIG. 1),external data service 110 (FIG. 1), or any other suitable facility orlocation may provide data to user television equipment 204 via Internetservice system 302, or other separate Internet service system.

In some embodiments of the present invention, an interactive televisionprogram guide application may run at least partially on one or more ofuser television equipment 204, distribution facility 202, main facility102 (FIG. 1), external data service 110 (FIG. 1), or any other suitablecomponent (which is not necessarily shown in FIGS. 1-7) of aninteractive television program guide application system using a suitableclient-server or distributed processing arrangement. Client-serverprogram guide systems are described, for example, in Ellis et al. U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/374,043, filed Aug. 13, 1999, which ishereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

An illustrative client-server arrangement of interactive applicationequipment 106 (FIG. 1) is shown in FIG. 5. Distribution equipment 206may include server 502. An application client running on user televisionequipment 204 may retrieve program guide data from server 502 using anysuitable client-server based approach. The client may, for example, passSQL (structured query language) requests as messages to server 502. Inanother suitable approach, the application client may invoke remoteprocedures that reside on server 502 using one or more remote procedurecalls. Server 502 may execute SQL statements for such invoked remoteprocedures. In another suitable approach, client objects executed by theapplication may communicate with server objects executed by server 502using, for example, an object request broker (ORB). Server 502 may, forexample, run a suitable database engine (e.g., SQL Server by Microsoft)and provide data to an application client implemented on user televisionequipment 204. In some embodiments of the present invention, server 502may provide one or more of program guide data and fantasy sports contestdata to user equipment 204 using a “push” methodology (e.g., forcedmessages). For example, server 502 may automatically transmit e-mail andupdate messages (e.g., updates of real-life sports scores or fantasysports contest standings) to user equipment 204.

In some embodiments of the present invention, server 502 may request orotherwise receive program guide and fantasy sports contest data fromprogram guide data and fantasy sports contest data source 104 of mainfacility 102 (FIG. 1). Fantasy sports contest data received from mainfacility 102 may be utilized to, for example, generate interactivetelevision program guide application display screens having up to dateinformation (e.g., sports scores, fantasy sports contest standings, anindication of current and future programs that are related to a fantasysports contest in which the user participates, etc.). Server 502 may,for example, utilize schedule localizations containing one or more ofprogram guide data and fantasy sports contest data from main facility102 (FIG. 1) to generate accurate application display screens.

In some embodiments of the present invention, server 502 may receiveprogram guide and fantasy sports contest data from an external dataservice such as external data service 110 (FIG. 1). In some embodimentsof the present invention, one or more of program guide and fantasysports contest data may originate at distribution facility 202. Forexample, an operator at distribution facility 202 may input data for auser's account (e.g., data indicating whether a user is ineligible toparticipate in fantasy sports contests based on non-payment of a monthlyfee) for storage on server 502.

In some embodiments of the present invention, server 502 may, inresponse to client requests, transmit program guide and fantasy sportscontest data via communications path 208 to user equipment 204 forsubsequent processing and application display screen generation. Forexample, server 502 may provide application data to user televisionequipment 204 and user television equipment 204 may subsequently processthe data to provide an interactive television program guide thatprovides access to one or more fantasy sports contests. Server 502 maystore various media (e.g., highlight video clips for events related to afantasy sports contest in which the user participates) and provide themedia to user television equipment 204 in response to program guideclient requests or using a push methodology. In other embodiments,sometimes referred to as a “thin client” approach, program guide server502 may generate program guide application display screens which aredownloaded by the program guide client. If desired, server 502 may belocated at main facility 102 (FIG. 1), external data service 110 (FIG.1), or any other suitable location or a combination thereof.

Another illustrative client-server arrangement is shown in FIG. 6. Inthis example, Internet service system 302 may provide program guide andfantasy sports contest data from the Internet to server 502. Internetservice system 302 of FIG. 6 may be any suitable combination of hardwareand software capable of providing data to server 502 using an Internetbased approach (e.g., the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)). Internetservice system 302 may provide data to server 502 continuously, daily,in response to server 502 requests, in response to user televisionequipment 204 requests, or in any other suitable approach.

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative arrangement for interactive applicationequipment 106 for providing an online program guide. Illustrativeon-line program guide systems are described, for example, in Boyer etal. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/938,028, filed Sep. 18, 1997,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.Interactive application equipment may have personal computer (PC) 702 onwhich a program guide client or web browser is implemented. Personalcomputer 702 may be connected to Internet service system 704 viaInternet link 706. Internet service system 704 may use any suitablecombination of computer hardware and software capable of providing anon-line program guide server application or website (e.g., by providingHTML web pages using HTTP). In the embodiment of FIG. 7, distributionfacility 708 may provide Internet service system 704 with program guideand fantasy sports contest data. Distribution facility 708 may be anysuitable equipment for distributing program guide and fantasy sportscontest data (e.g., a cable system headend, a satellite distributionfacility, a broadcast distribution facility, or any other suitable typeof distribution facility) to Internet service system 704 via Internetlink 710. In other suitable approaches, other program guide applicationequipment or facilities such as main facility 102 (FIG. 1), externaldata service 110 (FIG. 1), or any other suitable source of one or moreof program guide and fantasy sports contest data, or a combinationthereof, may provide data to Internet service system 704.

User television equipment 204 of FIGS. 2-6 may be any suitable equipmentcapable of receiving, processing, and displaying data in an interactivetelevision program guide application (e.g., personal computertelevisions (PC/TVs), personal computers, cable set-top boxes orsatellite receivers with sufficient processing capabilities and displaydevices, etc.). User television equipment 204 may receive program guideand fantasy sports contest data from distribution facility 202 (FIGS.2-6), server 502 (FIGS. 5-6), Internet service system 302 (FIGS. 3, 4,and 6), or any other suitable facility or location or a combinationthereof, and utilize the data to generate program guide applicationdisplay screens that provide access to fantasy sports contests.

An illustrative arrangement for user television equipment 204 (FIGS.2-6) is shown in FIG. 8. User television equipment 204 may receiveanalog or digital programming (e.g., television programming,pay-per-view programming, video-on-demand programming, etc.) andapplication data at input 802 from distribution facility 202 (FIGS.2-6), main facility 102 (FIG. 1), external data service 110 (FIG. 1),Internet service system 302 (FIGS. 3-4), server 502 (FIGS. 5-6), orother suitable equipment or a combination thereof, depending on thechosen implementation.

During normal television viewing, a user may tune set-top box 804 to adesired television channel. The signal for that television channel maythen be provided at video output 806. The signal supplied at output 806is typically either a radio-frequency (RF) signal on a predefinedchannel (e.g., channel 3 or 4), or an analog demodulated video signal,but may also be a digital signal provided on an appropriate digital bus(e.g., a bus using the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 1394 standard (not shown)). The video signal at output 806 may bereceived by secondary storage device 808, which may be an optionalcomponent in the embodiment of FIG. 8.

Set-top box 804 may have memory 810. Memory 810 may be any memory orother storage device, such as a random access memory (RAM), read onlymemory (ROM), flash memory, a hard disk drive, a combination of suchdevices, or any memory suitable for storing application instructions andapplication data for use by the interactive television program guideapplication.

Set-top box 804 may have communications device 812 for communicatingdirectly with distribution facility 202 (FIGS. 2-6), server 502 (FIGS.5-6) Internet service system 302 (FIGS. 3-4, FIG. 6), external dataservice 110 (FIG. 1), or other suitable equipment over suitablecommunications paths. Communications device 812 may be a modem (e.g.,cable modem, telephone modem, digital subscriber line (DSL) modem,integrated service digital network (ISDN) modem, or any suitable analogor digital modem), network interface card (e.g., an Ethernet card,etc.), or other suitable communications device. Communications device812 may also be a personal computer with an Internet connection in, forexample, the arrangements shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In some embodiments ofthe present invention, communications device 812 may be a component oftelevision 814.

Secondary storage device 808 may be any suitable type of analog ordigital program storage device or player. For example, secondary storagedevice 808 may be a videocassette recorder (VCR) or a digital versatiledisc (DVD) player. As another example, secondary storage device 808 maybe a personal video recorder (PVR) or any other suitable analog ordigital program storage device or player. Illustrative media recordingsystems including personal video recorder systems are described in Elliset al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/821,005 which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

In some embodiments of the present invention, application data may bestored in secondary storage device 808. Program recording and otherfeatures may be controlled by set-top box 804 using control path 816. Ifsecondary storage device 808 is a videocassette recorder or a personalvideo recorder, for example, a typical control path 816 may involve theuse of an infrared transmitter coupled to the infrared receiver in therecorder that normally accepts commands from a remote control such asremote control 818. Remote control 818 may be used to control set-topbox 804, secondary storage device 808, and television 814.

An interactive television program guide application may run on set-topbox 804, television 814 (provided that television 814 has suitableprocessing circuitry and memory), a suitable analog or digital receiver(not shown) connected to television 814, or digital storage device 820if digital storage device 820 has suitable processing circuitry andmemory. The interactive television program guide application may alsorun cooperatively on a suitable combination of these devices.Interactive television application systems in which a cooperativeinteractive television program guide application runs on multipledevices are described, for example, in Ellis U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/186,598, filed Nov. 5, 1998, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

If desired, a user may record programming (e.g., television programs,pay-per-view programs, video-on-demand (VOD) programs,non-video-on-demand programs, etc.) in digital form on digital storagedevice 820. Digital storage device 820 may also record program guide andfantasy sports contest data including, for example, fantasy sportscontest standings and rules, real-life sports scores and statistics, andhighlight video clips for events related to a fantasy sports contest inwhich the user participates. Digital storage device 820 may be containedin set-top box 804 or it may be an external device connected to set-topbox 804 via an input/output port and appropriate interface. Digitalstorage device 820 may be a writeable optical storage device (such as aDVD player capable of handling recordable DVD discs), a magnetic storagedevice (such as a disk drive or digital tape), or any other digitalstorage device. Interactive television program guide application systemsthat have digital storage devices are described, for example, in Hassellet al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/157,256, filed Sep. 17, 1998,which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Processing circuitry in set-top box 804 may format received video, audioand data signals into a digital file format. The file format may be anopen file format such as the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) MPEG-2standard or the Moving Joint Photographic Experts Group (MJPEG)standard. The resulting data may be streamed to and stored in digitalstorage device 820, secondary storage device 808, or other storagedevice via an appropriate bus (not shown) (e.g., a bus using theInstitute Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 standard). Insome embodiments of the present invention, an MPEG-2 data stream orseries of files may be received from distribution facility 202 (FIGS.2-6), Internet service system 302 (FIGS. 3-4, and 6), or other systemand stored by digital storage device 820 or secondary storage device808.

Television 814 may receive video signals from secondary storage device808 via communications path 822. The video signals on communicationspath 822 may either be generated by secondary storage device 808 whenplaying back a prerecorded storage medium (e.g., a videocassette or arecordable digital video disc), by digital storage device 820 whenplaying back a pre-recorded digital medium, may be passed through fromset-top box 804, may be provided directly to television 814 from set-topbox 804 if secondary storage device 808 is not included in usertelevision equipment 204 (FIGS. 2-6), or may be received directly bytelevision 814 from any other suitable facility or location (e.g., mainfacility 102 (FIG. 1)). During normal television viewing, the videosignals provided to television 814 may correspond to the desired channelto which a user has tuned with set-top box 804. Video signals may alsobe provided to television 814 by set-top box 804 when set-top box 804 isused to play back information stored on digital storage device 820.

FIG. 9 is a illustrative schematic block diagram of portions of usertelevision equipment 204 (FIGS. 2-6) in accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention. Program guide and fantasy sportscontest data from distribution facility 202 (FIGS. 2-6), main facility102 (FIG. 1), external data service 110 (FIG. 1), server 502 (FIGS.5-6), Internet service provider 302 (FIGS. 3, 4, and 6), or othersuitable equipment or location may be received by control circuitry 902or received by communications device 904 and provided to controlcircuitry 902.

Control circuitry 902 may include a processor or processing circuitryfor receiving and processing program guide instructions. Controlcircuitry 902 may include any suitable processor, such as amicroprocessor or group of microprocessors, and other processingcircuitry such as caching circuitry, direct memory access (DMA)circuitry, input/output (I/O) circuitry, etc. For example, controlcircuitry 902 may process application instructions to generate programguide application display screens. As another example, control circuitry902 may process program guide and fantasy sports contest data to providerecord commands to a suitable storage device (e.g., record commands forprograms related to a fantasy sports contest in which the userparticipates). Still another example, control circuitry 902 may maintaina user viewing history and process program guide data to generate a listof program recommendations or to provide targeted advertisements to auser (e.g., providing an ad to join a fantasy football contest to a userthat has a history of viewing real-life football programming). Thefunctions of control circuitry 902 may be integrated into an advancedtelevision receiver, personal computer television (PC/TV), or any othersuitable arrangement. If desired, a combination of such arrangements maybe used.

Digital storage device 906 and secondary storage device 908 may recordmedia and store program guide and fantasy sports contest data. Secondarystorage device 908 may be any suitable type of analog or digital programstorage device (e.g., a videocassette recorder (VCR), a personal videorecorder (PVR), a digital versatile disc (DVD), etc.). Digital storagedevice 906 may be, for example, a writeable optical storage device (suchas a DVD player capable of handling recordable DVD discs), a magneticstorage device (such as a disk drive or digital tape), or any otherdigital storage device. Program recording and other features may becontrolled by control circuitry 902. For example, control circuitry 902may instruct secondary storage device 908 and digital storage device 906to record television programming or any other suitable media.

Memory 910 may be any memory or other storage device, such as a randomaccess memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), flash memory, a hard diskdrive, a combination of such devices, etc., that is suitable for storingapplication data for use by control circuitry 902.

Communications device 904 may support communications between usertelevision equipment 204 and distribution equipment 202 (FIGS. 2-6),server 502 (FIGS. 5-6), Internet service system 302 (FIGS. 3, 4, and 6),external data service 110 (FIG. 1), or other suitable equipment orlocation. Communications device 904 may be a modem (e.g., a cable modem,digital subscriber line (DSL) modem, telephone modem, integratedservices digital network (ISDN) modem, or any suitable analog or digitalmodem), network interface card (e.g., an Ethernet card, Token ring card,etc.) or any other suitable communications device.

User input device 912 may be any suitable input device for allowing auser to communicate to the interactive television program guideapplication. For example, a user may select a program listing from aprogram guide listings display screen or order a pay-per-view programusing user input device 912. As another example, a user may make fantasysports contest roster selections or select a program for automaticrecording or reminding using user input device 912. User input device912 may be a pointing device, wireless remote control, keyboard,touch-pad, voice recognition system, or any other suitable user inputdevice. User-entered instructions from user input device 912 mayinstruct control circuitry 902 to direct an audio device (not shown) toprovide audio (e.g., music, talk-radio, television audio, etc.). Duringnormal television viewing, user-entered instructions from user inputdevice 912 may instruct control circuitry 902 to direct display device914 to display a desired television channel on display device 914.Display device 914 may be any suitable television, monitor, or othersuitable display device. To provide a user with program guide andfantasy sports contest options, the program guide application running onuser television equipment 204 (FIGS. 2-6, and 8) may generate, forexample, a program listings display screen, a program guide informationdisplay screen, a fantasy sports contest display screen, a pay-per-viewdisplay screen, or other desired display screen for display on displaydevice 914.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the program guideapplication may, based on program guide and fantasy sports contest datasupplied to user television equipment 204, generate control data thatgoverns the recording of programs related to a fantasy sports contest inwhich the user participates on digital storage device (820, 906),secondary storage device (808, 908), or any other storage device used inuser television equipment 204. The program guide application may, forexample, use program guide and fantasy sports contest data to determinewhich programs are related to a fantasy sports contest in which the userparticipates and may instruct digital storage device (820, 906) orsecondary storage device (808, 908) to record those programs. As anotherexample, the program guide application may determine for the user whichprograms are related to a fantasy sports contest in which the userparticipates and may allow the user to select one or more of thoseprograms for recording. Still another example, the program guideapplication may generate control data that commands secondary storagedevice (808, 908) or digital storage device (820, 906) to record asecond program related to a fantasy sports contest in which the userparticipates when a first related program that was designated forrecording is no longer available (e.g., due to a program blackout).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the program guideapplication may provide to the user the ability to define a defaultfantasy sports contest for which related programs will be automaticallyrecorded (e.g., by digital storage device (820, 906)). For example, inembodiments in which the user participates in multiple fantasy sportscontests, the user may attribute a record priority to each of thefantasy sports contests. The interactive television program guide mayuse such priorities to determine which program or programs to recordwhen multiple programs related to the user's fantasy sports contests aresimultaneously showing. The interactive television program guideapplication may also provide to the user the ability to attribute recordpriorities to programs for real-life athletic events related to aparticular fantasy sports contest (e.g., attributing a higher recordpriority to real-life Baltimore Orioles games related to the user'sfantasy Major League Baseball contest than the record priority forreal-life New York Mets games). The program guide may instructcommunications device (812, 904) to selectively receive or tune such aprogram and may instruct a recording device (e.g., digital storagedevice (820, 906), secondary storage device (808, 908), etc.) to recordthe program based on the attributed priorities. In some embodiments ofthe present invention, the program guide application may determine forthe user record priorities that govern automatic recording of programs.For example, when more than one program related to a fantasy sportscontest in which the user participates is simultaneously showing, theinteractive television program guide application may determine which ofthe programs to record based on the relevance of the programs to theuser's fantasy sports contest (e.g., determining for each of theprograms how many of user's fantasy sports contest roster selections areinvolved or scheduled to participate, determining whether one or more ofthe programs is a re-run of a sporting event and therefore its relevantoutcomes and statistics already having been incorporated to affect theuser's fantasy sports contest standing, etc.).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the program guideapplication may display a list of programs related to one or morefantasy sports contests in which the user participates. The programguide may provide to the user the ability to set record or remindoptions for one or more of the programs. In some embodiments of thepresent invention, the program guide application may display to a user(e.g., in an information display screen) information that indicateswhich of a user's fantasy sports contest roster selections are involvedor scheduled to participate in the related programs.

Program guide data and fantasy sports contest data may be integrated toprovide an at least partially unified presentation at user equipment120. For example, program guide data may be displayed in a first regionof a display screen and fantasy sports contest data may be displayed ina second region of the display screen. As another example, program guidedata may be displayed in a first display screen that includes auser-selectable option to view fantasy sports contest data in a seconddisplay screen. Still another example, program guide and fantasy sportscontest data may be fully integrated and inter-mingled in the samedisplay screens.

An interactive television program guide application implemented oninteractive application equipment 106 (FIGS. 1-6) may change itsdisplays and available options based on received program guide andfantasy sports contest data. FIGS. 10-25 show interactive televisionprogram guide application display screens in accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention. The display screens of FIGS. 10-25are only illustrative. Any other suitable user interface approach may beused. For example, other illustrative interface displays for aninteractive television program guide application are described in Mooreet al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/668,678, filed Sep. 22, 2000,and Knudson et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/357,941, whichare hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative interactive television program guide menudisplay screen 1000. The interactive television program guideapplication may display display screen 1000 in response to, for example,a user selection of a “Guide” button from remote control 818 (FIG. 8) orany other option to access the interactive television program guideapplication. Display screen 100 may include various program guide andfantasy sports contest options and information. For example, displayscreen 1000 may include option 1002 to view program listings by time,option 1004 to access information for fantasy sports contests, option1006 to view information for the user's record list, option 1008 to viewinformation for the user's reminder list, option 1010 to viewinformation for programs related to a fantasy sports contest in whichthe user participates, and option 1012 to access information for fantasysports contest trades. Arrow 1014 may indicate that additional programguide and fantasy sports contest information and options (e.g., anoption to view program listings by genre or channel, an option to searchfor program by title, etc.) can be accessed in response to, for example,a user selection of a “Down” button from remote control 818 (FIG. 8).

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative program listings display screen 1100.Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, the interactive television program guideapplication may display display screen 1100 in response to a userindication of option 1002 to view program listings by time or any otheroption to view program guide information. For example, the user mayposition highlight region 1016 on option 1002 and select an “Enter”button from remote control 818 (FIG. 8) to view display screen 1100.Display screen may 1100 may include various program listings for aspecific time period 1102. In this example, program “Yankees Game” 1104is available on channel “103 ESPN2” 1106. The interactive televisionprogram guide application may display icon 1108 in the guide listing forprogram 1104 to indicate that program 1104 is related to a fantasysports contest in which the user participates (e.g., a fantasy MajorLeague Baseball contest). For example, icon 1108 may indicate thatprogram “Yankees Game” 1104 includes one or more real-life players thathave been fictitiously selected to the user's fantasy sports contestteam roster (e.g., the statistics of these real-life players affectingthe user's fantasy sports contest point total). As another example, icon1108 may indicate that program 1104 affects the user's standing in afantasy sports contest without necessarily including any real-lifeplayers that have been selected to the user's fantasy roster (e.g., in afantasy sports contest in which the user's standing is affected byoutcomes of particular games, the real-life players of which may notnecessarily be selected to the user's fantasy roster). The program guidemay tune to program 1104 in response to a user selection of program 1104(e.g., by pressing an “Enter” button from remote control 818 (FIG. 8)).The information of display screen 1100 also indicates that program “JetsGame” 1112 is available on channel “100 TNT” 1114. In this example,program 1112 may be unrelated to a fantasy sports contest in which theuser participates. Accordingly, the guide listing for program 1112 maynot include an indicator such as icon 1108.

Icon 1108 is merely illustrative and any other suitable indicator may beused to indicate that a television program (e.g., program 1104) isrelated to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates. Forexample, other suitable indicators may include a text indicator, agraphic indicator, displaying a guide listing in a different color thanguide listings for programs unrelated to a fantasy sports contest inwhich the user participates, or any other suitable indicator orcombination thereof. In embodiments in which the user participates inmultiple fantasy sports contests, the interactive television programguide application may associate a different indicator with each of thefantasy sports contests to allow the user to easily determine to whichcontest a program is related. In some embodiments of the presentinvention, the interactive television program guide application maydisplay indicators in guide listings for programs that are unrelated toa fantasy sports contest in which the user participates to, for example,alert the user that a fantasy sports contest exists in connection withthat program and to encourage the user to participate in that contest.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may display targeted advertisements to currentor potential fantasy sports contestants (e.g., promotional videos,advertisements that encourage a user to participate in fantasy sportscontests, etc.). For example, in response to a user navigating to aguide display screen that includes information for a program related toa fantasy sports contest (e.g., in which the user does or does notparticipate), the interactive television program guide application maydisplay an advertisement that encourages the user to participate in thatfantasy sports contest. As another example, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may display advertisements that encourage theuser to participate in fantasy sports contests based on a maintainedviewing history that indicates the user's interests (e.g., displaying anadvertisement to join a fantasy NBA Basketball contest to a user thatfrequently views NBA Basketball events).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may provide to a user the ability to view moredetailed information for programs than the information listed in, forexample, program listings display screens. Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12,the interactive television program guide application may display displayscreen 1200 in response to a user selection of program 1104 (e.g., auser positioning a highlight region on the program listing for program1104 and selecting an “Info” button from remote control 818 (FIG. 8)).Display screen 1200 may include various additional information forprogram 1104 such as program description 1202 and any other informationfor program 1104 (e.g., information relating to the purchase of ticketsfor “Yankees Game” 1104 or similar future events). Display screen 1200may also include a list of real-life players that are involved in“Yankees Game” 1104 and that have been fictitiously selected to theuser's fantasy sports contest roster, or any other information relatedto a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates (e.g.,information indicating the user's fantasy sports point total, the user'sstanding in the fantasy sports contest, or any other informationindicating the user's performance in the fantasy sports contest). Inthis example, the information of display screen 1200 indicates thatreal-life sports players “Bernie Williams” 1204 and “Roger Clemens” 1206are involved in “Yankees Game 1104” and have been fictitiously selected(e.g., drafted exclusively) to the user's fantasy sports contest teamroster. The user may be permitted to view statistics data for each ofplayers 1204 and 1206 (e.g., real-life statistics, fantasy sportscontest statistics such as points earned for the user by virtue ofreal-life accomplishment, etc.) in response to user selections ofoptions 1208 and 1210, respectively. Arrow 1212 may indicate thatadditional program guide and fantasy sports contest information isavailable to the user (e.g., information associated with additionalreal-life players that have been fictitiously selected to the user'sfantasy sports contest team roster).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may display to a user a list of programsrelated to one or more fantasy sports contests in which the userparticipates. Referring to FIGS. 10 and 13, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may display display screen 1300 in response toa user selection of option 1010 to view information for fantasysports-related programs. Display screen 1300 may include a list offantasy sports-related programs that are currently available for viewingby the user such as programs “Mets Game” 1302 and “Yankees Game” 1304(e.g., related to a fantasy Major League Baseball contest in which theuser participates). The interactive television program guide applicationmay tune to a currently available program in response to a userselection of the program (e.g., after the user has purchased the programif the program is a pay-program).

Display screen 1300 may also include a list of fantasy sports-relatedprograms that will be available for viewing by the user at some time inthe future such as program “Mariners Game” 1306. As shown, program 1306may be a pay-per-view program that is scheduled to occur at a later date1308. The user may be permitted to order program 1306 in response to auser selection of option “Purchase Now!” 1310. Arrows 1312 and 1314 mayindicate that additional information for fantasy sports-related programs(e.g., for one or more of currently available programs and programsavailable in the future, information for real-life players that havebeen fictitiously selected to the user's fantasy sports contest teamroster) is available for viewing by the user in response to, forexample, a user selection of a “Down” button from remote control 818(FIG. 8). The interactive television program guide application mayprovide to the user the ability to view more detailed information (e.g.,similar to the more detailed information of display screen 1200 (FIG.12)) for the program listings of FIG. 13 in response to a user selectionof those programs (e.g., a user selection of an “Info” button fromremote control 818 (FIG. 8) while the program listing for one of theprograms is highlighted by a highlight region).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may automatically record programs related to afantasy sports contest in which the user participates. Referring toFIGS. 10 and 14, the interactive television program guide applicationmay display display screen 1400 in response to a user selection ofoption 1006 or other option to view information for the user's recordlist. Display screen 1400 may include, for example, a list of programsrelated to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates thathave been scheduled for automatic recording such as programs “Mets Game”1402 and “Yankees Game” 1404. Programs 1402 and 1404 may have associatedtherewith indicators 1406 and 1408, respectively, or any other suitableindicator to indicate that programs 1402 and 1404 are fantasy-sportsrelated programs. In this example, indicators 1406 and 1408 may be thesame and may indicate that programs 1402 and 1404 relate to the samefantasy sports contest of the user. Display screen 1400 may also includea list of programs unrelated to a fantasy sports contest in which theuser participates that have been scheduled for automatic recording suchas program “Psycho” 1410. The interactive television program guideapplication may display to a user one or more of information forprograms that have been previously recorded (e.g., and thus areavailable for viewing by the user) and information for programs that arecurrently being recorded (e.g., in separate display screens that aresimilar to display screen 1400).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may schedule for the user programs related toa fantasy sports contest in which the user participates for automaticrecording. The interactive television program guide application may, forexample, determine in which one or more fantasy sports contests the userparticipates, determine which programs are related to those fantasysports contests, and subsequently schedule those fantasy-sports relatedprograms for recording. In the event that the number of simultaneouslyshowing fantasy sports-related programs exceeds the recording capabilityof the interactive television program guide application system (e.g.,when two fantasy sports related programs are simultaneously showing andthe system is capable of recording only one program at a time), theapplication may, for example, schedule only the program or programs thatare the most relevant to a fantasy sports contest of the user forrecording (e.g., scheduling for recording the one or more programshaving involved the highest percentage of players on a user's fantasysports contest team roster).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may provide to a user the ability to define arecord priority that governs automatic recording of programs related toa fantasy sports contest in which the user participates. FIG. 15 showsan illustrative record list priority display screen 1500. Display screen1500 may include a list of program types and associated priorities forprograms related to one or more fantasy sports contests of the user suchas program types “Yankees Games” 1502 and “Mets Games” 1504. As shown,the user may define that “Yankees Games” 1502 are automatically recordedwith first priority 1506 (e.g., highest priority) and that “Mets Games”1504 are automatically recorded with second priority 1508 (e.g., lowerthan priority 1506). The user may be permitted to change priority levelsof each of program types 1506 and 1508 using, for example, pull-downmenus 1510 and 1512, respectively. In embodiments of the presentinvention in which the user participates in more than one fantasy sportscontest, the interactive television program guide may provide to theuser the ability to define priority levels for each of the user'sfantasy sports contests in addition to, or in place of, the prioritylevels for various program types of programs related to the fantasysports contests in which the user participates. For example, the usermay define that programs related to the user's fantasy NBA basketballcontest are recorded with higher priority than programs related to theuser's fantasy Major League Baseball contest.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may provide to the user the ability to definerecord priorities for program types unrelated to a fantasy sportscontest in which the user participates. For example, display screenincludes program type “Purchased Pay-Programs” 1514 having a prioritylevel “N/A” 1516. The user may have chosen to exclude program type“Purchased Pay-Programs” 1514 from automatic recording based on theuser-defined priority because, for example, the user intends to watchpurchased programs when they are broadcast to the user.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may provide to the user the ability to disableautomatic recording based on the user-defined priority. For example, theinteractive television program guide application may disable automaticrecording of programs based on the user-defined priority in response toa user selection of option 1518. When the user-defined priority isdisabled, automatic recording of programs may be determined, forexample, for the user by the interactive television program guideapplication (e.g., as previously described) or by the user on a programby program basis (e.g., scheduling automatic recording of a program bypressing a button of remote control 818 (FIG. 8) while information forthe program is displayed in, for example, an information display screensuch as display screen 12 (1200)).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may automatically remind users of programsrelated to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates.Referring to FIGS. 10 and 16, the interactive television program guideapplication may display display screen 1600 in response to a userselection of option 1008 or other option to view information for theuser's reminder list. Display screen 1600 may include, for example, alist of programs related to a fantasy sports contest in which the userparticipates that have been scheduled for automatic reminding such asprogram “Baltimore Game” 1602. Program 1602 may have associatedtherewith indicator 1604 or any other suitable indicator to indicatethat program 1602 is a fantasy-sports related program (e.g., related tothe same fantasy sports contest as programs 1402 and 1404 (FIG. 14)).Display screen 1600 may also include a list of programs unrelated to afantasy sports contest in which the user participates that have beenscheduled for automatic reminding such as programs “On the Riviera” 1606and “Talkback Live” 1608.

The interactive television program guide application may displayreminders for programs of display screen 1600 in, for example, anoverlay, an information display screen (e.g., similar to display screen1200 (FIG. 12)), or in any other suitable application display screen.FIG. 17 shows an illustrative reminder display screen 1700. In thisexample, reminder overlay 1702 overlays video for a currently tunedprogram or a current interactive television program guide applicationdisplay screen. Referring to FIGS. 16 and 17, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may display overlay 1702 to alert the userthat program “Baltimore Game” 1602 will be available for viewing, forexample, at some future time (e.g., 15 minutes later 1704). Overlay mayinclude various additional information such as information for real-lifeplayers that are involved in the reminded program and that have beenfictitiously selected to the user's fantasy sports contest team or anyother additional information (e.g., the user's standing in the relatedfantasy sports contest). In this example, overlay 1702 indicates thatplayer “David Segui” 1704 is involved in “Baltimore Game” 1602 and hasbeen selected to the user's fantasy sports contest roster or that player1704 otherwise affects the user's fantasy sports contest (e.g., player1704 being the subject of a fantasy sports contest-sponsored triviaquestion that enhances fantasy sports contest competition). The fantasysports contest application may remove overlay 1702 from display screen1700 in response to a user selection of “OK” option 1708.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may schedule programs related to a fantasysports contest in which the user participates for automatic remindingfor the user. The interactive television program guide application may,for example, determine in which one or more fantasy sports contests theuser participates, determine which programs are related to those fantasysports contests, and subsequently schedule those fantasy-sports relatedprograms for reminding. As another example, fantasy sports-relatedprograms may be scheduled for automatic recording by a user on a programby program basis (e.g., scheduling automatic reminding of a program bypressing a button of remote control 818 (FIG. 8) while information forthe program is displayed in, for example, an information display screensuch as display screen 1200 (FIG. 12)).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide may determine which programs related to a fantasy sportscontest in which the user participates to schedule for reminding basedon which of the programs are scheduled for recording or based on anyother suitable criteria. For example, the interactive program guideapplication may schedule for reminding only those fantasy sports-relatedprograms that cannot be recorded (e.g., because the system can recordonly one program at a time and there is a simultaneously showing fantasysports-related program having a higher priority). As another example,the interactive television program guide application may schedulefantasy sports-related programs that are only minimally relevant to auser's fantasy sports contest (e.g., programs having associatedtherewith only one or more real-life players that have been fictitiouslyselected to the user's fantasy sports contest team roster) for automaticreminding (e.g., whereas more relevant programs are scheduled forautomatic recording).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may remove a program from one or more of theuser's remind or record list if the program is no longer related to afantasy sports contest in which the user participates. For example,referring to FIGS. 16-18, the interactive television program guideapplication may remove program “Baltimore Game” 1602 from the user'sreminder list if, for example, the user fictitiously trades real-lifeplayer “David Segui” 1706 (who is involved in “Baltimore Game” 1602),the fantasy sports contest to which program 1602 had previously relatedconcludes (e.g., the fantasy sports contest having been a partial-seasoncontest), or any other change occurs that renders program 1602 no longerrelated to a fantasy sports contest in which the user participates.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may display to the user information related toone or more fantasy sports contests in which the user participates. FIG.19 shows an illustrative fantasy sports contest information displayscreen 1900. The interactive television program guide application maydisplay display screen 1900 in response to, for example, a userselection of option 1004 (FIG. 10) to view information for fantasysports contests. In this example, display screen 1900 includes fantasysports contest information overlay 1902 that overlays video for acurrently tuned program or a current interactive television programguide application display screen. In some embodiments of the presentinvention, the interactive television program guide application maydisplay overlay 1902 in response to, for example, the user selecting anoption to tune to a program that is related to a fantasy sports contestin which the user participates (e.g., a fantasy NBA Basketballcontestant selects an option to tune to a New York Knicks basketballgame). In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactivetelevision program guide may display overlay 1902 at all times when auser accesses the application.

Overlay 1902 may include fantasy sports contest information such as aname of a fantasy sports contest 1904 in which the user participates,the user's fantasy score 1906 for contest 1904, the user's fantasysports standing 1908 for contest 1904, a boxscore 1910 for one or moreprograms that are related to contest 1904, and any other suitablefantasy sports contest information (e.g., information for the user'sfantasy sports roster selections for contest 1904 or other fantasysports contest in which the user participates). The interactivetelevision program guide may display fantasy sports contest informationin overlay 1902 to allow the user to, for example, navigate through theguide and view television programs without losing track of the user'sperformance in fantasy sports contest 1904. The interactive televisionprogram guide application may remove overlay 1902 from display screen1900 in response to a user selection of “Remove” option 1912. In otherexamples, the interactive television program guide application mayprovide to the user the ability to view fantasy sports contestinformation (e.g., information for fantasy sports contest trades) in anyother suitable display arrangement (e.g., in an information displayscreen such as display screen 1200 (FIG. 12)) or using any othersuitable approach (e.g., displaying a user's fantasy sports contestscore using transparent text to minimize obstruction of, for example, aprogram of interest to the user).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may display to the user update information forreal-life events related to one or more fantasy sports contests in whichthe user participates. FIG. 20 shows an illustrative fantasy sportscontest update information display screen 2000. The interactivetelevision program guide application may display display screen 2000 inresponse to, for example, a real-life event occurring that affects theuser's standing in one or more of the user's fantasy sports contests.The real-life event may have occurred in, for example, a sportscompetition (e.g., a baseball game) that is either available orunavailable for viewing by the user (e.g., the sports competition maynot be televised and therefore unavailable for viewing, may be apay-program and therefore available for viewing following a purchase ofthe program by the user, may be available for viewing in response to auser selection of the appropriate tune channel, etc.). In this example,information for the update may be included in overlay 2002 that overlaysvideo for a currently tuned program or a current interactive televisionprogram guide application display screen. Overlay 2002 may includeinformation such as the user's fantasy sports contest 2004 to which theupdate relates, the channel 2006 on which the fantasy sports-relatedevent occurred (i.e., if the event was televised), a description of theevent 2008, a number of fantasy sports contest points 2010 accumulated(e.g., or lost), a boxscore 2012 for a real-life game in which the eventoccurred, and any other update information, program guide information,or fantasy sports contest information. In embodiments in which thereal-life event that affects the user's fantasy sports contest istelevised, the interactive television program guide may tune to thechannel for that event in response to, for example, a user selection ofoption 2014. The interactive television program guide application maydisable fantasy sports contest updates in response to a user selectionof option 2016. The update information of overlay 2002 may be displayedto the user in real time, in a time-delayed fashion (e.g., synchronizedwith time that the event is scheduled to be televised) or at any othersuitable time.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide may provide to the user the ability to view highlightvideo clips (e.g., using a personal video recorder) for real-life eventsrelated to one or more fantasy sports contests in which the userparticipates. The highlight video clips may include real-life athleticevents (e.g., a real-life baseball player hitting a home run, areal-life football player scoring a touchdown or intercepting a pass,etc.) that may or may not affect the user's standing in a fantasy sportscontest. In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactivetelevision program guide application may provide to the user the abilityto view highlight video clips for only real-life events that affect theuser's standing in a fantasy sports contest.

For example, referring to FIGS. 20 and 21, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may display display screen 2100 in response toa user selection of option 2018 to view a highlight video clip forreal-life event “Bernie Williams Solo Home Run” 2008. Display screen2100 may include video clip display region 2102 in which video forreal-life event 2008 may be displayed. In some embodiments of thepresent invention, the interactive television program guide applicationmay immediately begin to play the highlight video clip for event 2008for the user in response to a user selection of option 2018. In otherembodiments of the present invention, the interactive television programguide application may initially display the highlight video clip to theuser in, for example, a paused state. A user may be permitted tomanipulate the video clip by selecting play option 2104, stop option2106, pause option 2108, rewind option 2110, fast forward option 2112 orother option to manipulate the highlight video clip (e.g., from remotecontrol 818 (FIG. 8). The interactive television program guide maydisplay to a user a previous highlight video clip (e.g., for an eventthat occurred previously in the game that caused the user to eitheraccumulate or lose fantasy sports contest points, a highlight video clipof another sport for an event that affects the user's standing in adifferent fantasy sports contest, etc.) in response to a user selectionof option 2114. The interactive television program guide may display ahighlight video clip for an event that occurred subsequent to the eventshown in display region 2102 (e.g., an event that occurred in thereal-life game that occurred while the user was viewing the event shownin display region 2102) in response to a user selection of option 2116.

The interactive television program guide application may display programguide and fantasy sports contest information to a user in any suitabledisplay arrangement. FIG. 22 shows an illustrative flip display screen2200 that includes flip display region 2202. The interactive televisionprogram guide application may display display screen 2200 when the useris navigating through television channels (e.g., by pressing “ChannelUp” or “Channel Down” buttons on remote control 818 (FIG. 8)). In thisexample, flip display region 2202 may overlay video for currently tunedprogram “Yankees Game” 2204 (e.g., which may be the same program asprogram 1104 (FIGS. 11 and 12). Flip display region 2202 may includevarious program guide information such as tuned program 2204, tunedchannel 2206, and any other program guide information (e.g., programdescription). Flip display region may also include various fantasysports-related program information such as boxscore 2208 for real-lifeprogram “Yankees Game” 2204, the user's fantasy sports contest score2210, the user's standing 2212 in the fantasy sports contest 2212, andany other fantasy sports-related information (e.g., a list of the user'sfantasy sports contest team selections that are involved in program2204). In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactivetelevision program guide application may provide to the user the abilityto view a recap (e.g., text summary) of events of, for example, atelevised sports event related to a fantasy sports contest in which theuser participates. For example, the interactive television program guideapplication may display information for the events that have occurred inprogram 2204 (e.g., information such as information 2008 (FIG. 20) inresponse to a user selection of a suitable option such as option 2214.The interactive television program guide may also provide to the userthe ability to view video highlights for program 2204 (e.g., for eventsthat affect the user's standing in a fantasy sports contest) in responseto a user selection of option 2216.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may provide to the user the ability to proposetrades of the user's fantasy sports contest roster selections. Referringto FIGS. 10 and 13, the interactive television program guide applicationmay display display screen 2300 in response to a user selection ofoption 1012 or other suitable option to access information for fantasysports contest trades. Display screen 2300 may include various optionsthat allow a user to propose a trade of one or more of the user'sfantasy sport contest roster selections for one or more of the rosterselections of, for example, another fantasy sports contestant of thesame fantasy sports contest league. In this example, the user may beprovided with the ability to determine for which of the user's one ormore fantasy sports contests 2302 to propose a trade using pull-downmenu 2304. The user may also determine to which fantasy sportscontestant 2306 of the fantasy sports contest the trade is directedusing pull-down menu 2308. In some embodiments of the present invention,the user may be provided with the ability to propose a multiple partytrade (e.g., a three way trade between three contestants of the samefantasy sports contest league).

In response to a user selection of contestant “Dave” 2306 usingpull-down menu 2308, the interactive television program guideapplication may display a list of current roster selections 2310 ofcontestant 2306. A current list of the user's roster selections 2312 mayalso be displayed (e.g., in response to a user selection of contest2302). The user may, for example, select fantasy players “Grace” 2314and “Counsell” 2316 from the user's team roster as the proposed tradefor fantasy player “Piazza” 2318 from the roster of contestant 2306. Theinteractive television program guide may provide data for the tradeproposal to contestant 2306 in response to a user selection of option2320. In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactivetelevision program guide application may deliver (e.g., with or withoutthe trade proposal) a message 2322 from the user to contestant 2306.

FIG. 24 shows an illustrative received trade proposal display screen2400. The interactive television program guide application may displaydisplay screen 2400 to a user (e.g., contestant “Dave” 2306 (FIG. 23))in response to another contestant of the user's fantasy sports contest(e.g., contest 2302 (FIG. 23)) proposing a trade to the user.Information for proposed trades may be displayed to a user in anysuitable display arrangement. In this example, the trade proposal may bedisplayed to the user in overlay 2402. Overlay 2402 may includeinformation such as who proposed the trade 2404, the fantasy sportscontest to which the trade proposal relates 2406, and any other suitableprogram guide or fantasy sports contest information. Overlay 2404 mayalso include information that identifies which fantasy players 2408 theuser will lose and which fantasy players (2410, 2412) the user willacquire should the user decide to accept the trade proposal. Theinteractive television program guide application may accept the tradeproposal for the user (i.e., process the changes to the fantasy teamrosters of both the user and party 2404) in response to a user selectionof option 2414 and may reject the trade proposal for the user inresponse to a user selection of option 2416. The user may be providedwith the ability to modify the trade proposal (e.g., in a display screensimilar to display screen 2300 (FIG. 23)) in response to a userselection of option 2418. In response to a user deciding whether toaccept the wager, the interactive television program guide applicationmay inform party 2404 of the user's decision.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may provide to the user the ability todetermine which of the user's fantasy sports contestants will affect theuser's standing in the fantasy sports contest (e.g., for a given week,game, for a portion of the fantasy contest, etc.). FIG. 25 shows anillustrative fantasy roster activation display screen 2500. Theinteractive television program guide application may display displayscreen 2500 in response to, for example, a user selection of option 1004(FIG. 10) or other option to view fantasy sports contest information. Inthis example, the interactive television program guide application mayallow the user to activate fantasy team roster selections for fantasyMajor League Baseball contest 2502. The user may, for example, activatefantasy player “Posada” 2504 as the user's catcher 2506 on defense andfantasy player “Piazza” 2508 as the user's catcher on offense (i.e., theuser may activate a composite fantasy team catcher comprised of bothplayers 2504 and 2506). For the catcher position 2506, the user'sstanding in fantasy sports contest 2502 may be affected by only thedefensive statistics of player 2504 (e.g., base runners thrown-out,errors, passed balls, etc.) and the offensive statistics of player 2506(e.g., hits, homeruns, walks, strikeouts, etc.). The interactivetelevision program guide application may display to a user a list ofactivated fantasy roster selections in response to a user selection ofoption 2508. Display screen 2500 may include various additional fantasysports contest information including fantasy sports contest scores 2510,fantasy sports contest standings 2512, or any other fantasy sportscontest information (e.g., an option to join a fantasy sports contest).

FIG. 26 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in using aninteractive television program guide application to provide fantasysports contest information to a user. At step 2602, the interactivetelevision program guide application may determine that a program (e.g.,program 1104 (FIG. 11)) is related to a fantasy sports contest (e.g., inwhich the user may or may not participate). The interactive televisionprogram guide application may, for example, receive data indicating alist of real-life sports players that are included in the program (e.g.,involved in a baseball game) from main facility 102 (FIG. 1),distribution facility 202 (FIGS. 2-6), external data service 110(FIG. 1) Internet service system 302 (FIG. 4), or any other suitablefacility or location. The list of players may then be compared with dataindicating the user's current fantasy roster selections to determinewhether the program is related to a fantasy sports contest of the user.In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may determine that the program is related to afantasy sports contest based on, for example, a comparison of the sportto which the program is directed and the sports for which fantasy sportscontests are available.

The interactive television program guide application may displayinformation indicating that the program is related to a fantasy sportscontest at step 2604. For example, the application may display a programlisting that includes a suitable indicator (e.g., program listing 1402having icon 1406), information for one or more real-life players thatare related to the fantasy sports contest and that are included in theprogram (e.g., names of players 1204 and 1206 (FIG. 12)), or any othersuitable information.

FIG. 27 is another flow chart of illustrative steps involved in using aninteractive television program guide application to provide fantasysports contest information to a user. The interactive television programguide may provide to the user an opportunity to view information for aschedule programs related to fantasy sports contests at step 2702. Forexample, the application may display option 1010 (FIG. 10) to the user.In response to receiving a user indication of the opportunity at step2704, the interactive television program guide application may displaythe schedule to the user at step 2706. For example, a schedule offantasy sports-related programs that are related to a fantasy sportscontest in which the user participates (e.g., currently availableprograms 1302 and 1304 (FIG. 13)) maybe displayed to the user.

FIG. 28 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in scheduling forautomatic recording a program that is related to a fantasy sportscontest in which the user participates. At step 2802, the interactivetelevision program guide application may determine that a program isrelated to the fantasy sports contest (e.g., in a manner similar to thatof step 2602 (FIG. 26)). In some embodiments of the present invention,the application may record all programs that are related to a user'sfantasy sports contest at step 2804.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may determine whether to schedule the programfor automatic recording for the user based on the relevance of theprogram to the user's fantasy sports contest. FIG. 29 is a flow chart ofillustrative sub-steps involved in step 2804 (FIG. 28). At step 2902,the application may determine whether a number of the user's fantasyroster selections for that fantasy sports contest is higher than athreshold number (e.g., a fixed number such as three, a dynamic numberthat is determined based on whether there is another program that isrelated to a user's fantasy sports contest and that is competing tooccupy the system's recording resources, a combination thereof, etc.).If the number exceeds the threshold number, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may record the program at step 2904. If not,the program may not be recorded at step 2906.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the interactive televisionprogram guide application may provide the user with the ability todefine a record priority for programs related to a fantasy sportscontest in which the user participates (e.g., the record priority shownin display screen 1500 (FIG. 15). FIG. 30 is another flow chart ofillustrative sub-steps of step 2804 (FIG. 28). At step 3002, theinteractive television program guide application may determine whether aprogram has a high enough record priority for automatic recording. Theapplication may determine whether the program (e.g., program 1502 (FIG.15)) has a higher priority than, for example, another program (e.g.,program 1504 (FIG. 15)) that is related to the user's fantasy sportscontest and that is competing for automatic recording. In response todetermining that the program has sufficient priority, the applicationmay schedule the program for automatic recording at step 3004. A programthat does not have sufficient record priority may not be recorded atstep 3006. In some embodiments of the present invention, the applicationmay schedule such a program for automatic reminding in addition or as analternative to automatic reminding.

FIG. 31 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in providing to auser information for events that affect the user's standing in a fantasysports contest. At step 3102, the interactive television program guideapplication may determine that an event has occurred in a program thatis related to fantasy sports contest in which the user participates. Forexample, the application may determine that an event that affects theuser's performance in a fantasy sports contest has occurred (e.g., event2008 (FIG. 20) causing the user to be awarded fantasy sport points2010). The application may receive data for the event from a suitablesource of information such as main facility 102 (FIG. 1), external datasource (110), the Internet 302 (FIG. 3), or any other suitable one ormore sources of data. The interactive television program guideapplication may display information for the event to the user at step3104. For example, the user may display to the user the informationshown in fantasy sports contest update overlay display screen 2002 (FIG.20) or other suitable information for the event.

FIG. 32 is a flow chart of illustrative steps involved in displaying toa user a highlight video for an event that is related to a fantasysports contest in which the user participates. At step 3202, theinteractive television program guide application may direct a suitablestorage device (e.g., secondary storage device (808, 908), digitalstorage device (820, 906), a storage device at server 502 (FIG. 5),etc.) to record an event related to a fantasy sports contest of theuser. For example, the application may instruct a suitable recordingdevice to record event “Bernie Williams Solo Home Run” 2008 (FIG. 20)using a personal video recorder (PVR). At step 3204, the application mayprovide to the user the ability to play back the event (e.g., usingcontrols 2104, 2106, 2108, 2110, and 2112 (FIG. 21)). For example, inresponse to a user selection of option 2018 (FIG. 20,) the interactivetelevision program guide application may display video for the event indisplay region 2102 (FIG. 21). The application may use, for example, astored indication of a start of the event to play back the video. Suchan indication may be stored by user television equipment 204 (FIGS. 2-8)in a table, may be received by user equipment 204 from, for example,server 502 (FIG. 5), may be inserted by user equipment 204 as a flaggedidentifier into a digital video stream when the stream is routed to asuitable storage device, or may be otherwise processed using any othersuitable approach. In some embodiments of the present invention, asuitable storage device may record programs related to a fantasy sportscontest in which the user participates in their entirety or in part(e.g., storing only the data for highlights, storing storing all datainitially and discarding data for other than highlights after receivingan indication of starts and ends of highlights, etc.).

Thus it is seen that systems and methods for using an interactivetelevision program guide application to access fantasy sports contestsare provided. Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that thepresent invention can be practiced by other than the describedembodiments, which are presented for purposes of illustration ratherthan of limitation, and the present invention is limited only by theclaims that follow.

1. A method for using an interactive media guidance application toprovide fantasy sports contest information, the method comprising:determining, with the interactive media guidance application, that mediaincludes a real-life sports player included in a user's fantasy sportscontest team roster by comparing data associated with the media with thereal-life sports player included in the user's fantasy team roster; anddisplaying, in response to determining that the media includes thereal-life sports player, information indicating to the user that themedia is related to the fantasy sports contest in which the userparticipates.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determininga number of real-life sports players included in the media that are alsoincluded in the user's fantasy team roster; and determining whether toschedule the media for automatic recording based on the number.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: determining that an event hasoccurred in the media if it is determined that the media includes thereal-life sports player; and displaying, in response to thedetermination that the event has occurred, an overlay on top of themedia, wherein the overlay includes fantasy sports contest informationassociated with the event.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the eventcorresponds to an accumulation of a statistic by the real-life player,wherein the statistic affects the user's performance in the fantasysports contest.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that themedia includes the real-life sports player comprises determining thatthe media relates to a real-life competition in which the real-lifesports player participates.
 6. The method of claim 3, wherein displayinginformation associated with the event comprises displaying informationthat indicates a number of fantasy sports points that the user hasreceived as a result of the event.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereindisplaying information comprises displaying a program listing thatincludes an indicator, wherein the indicator indicates that a programassociated with the program listing is related to the fantasy sportscontest.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: receiving a userindication of the program listing; and displaying to the userinformation that indicates the user's performance in the fantasy sportscontest.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: displaying, inresponse to user selection of the media and in response to determiningthat the media includes the real-life sports player, fantasy sportscontest information associated with the real-life sports player inconjunction with video for the media.
 10. A system for using aninteractive media guidance application to provide fantasy sports contestinformation, the system comprising control circuitry configured to:determine, with the interactive media guidance application, that mediaincludes a real-life sports player included in a user's fantasy sportscontest team roster by comparing data associated with the media with thereal-life sports player included in the user's fantasy team roster; anddisplay, in response to determining that the media includes thereal-life sports player, information indicating to the user that themedia is related to the fantasy sports contest in which the userparticipates.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the control circuitryis further configured to: determine a number of real-life sports playersincluded in the media that are also included in the user's fantasy teamroster; and determine whether to schedule the media for automaticrecording based on the number.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein thecontrol circuitry is further configured to: determine that an event hasoccurred in the media if it is determined that the media includes thereal-life sports player; and display, in response to the determinationthat the event has occurred, an overlay on top of the media, wherein theoverlay includes fantasy sports contest information associated with theevent.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the event corresponds to anaccumulation of a statistic by the real-life player, wherein thestatistic affects the user's performance in the fantasy sports contest.14. The system of claim 10, wherein determining that the media includesthe real-life sports player comprises determining that the media relatesto a real-life competition in which the real-life sports playerparticipates.
 15. The system of claim 12, wherein displaying informationassociated with the event comprises displaying information thatindicates a number of fantasy sports points that the user has receivedas a result of the event.
 16. The system of claim 10, wherein displayinginformation comprises displaying a program listing that includes anindicator, wherein the indicator indicates that a program associatedwith the program listing is related to the fantasy sports contest. 17.The system of claim 16, wherein the control circuitry is furtherconfigured to: receive a user indication of the program listing; anddisplay to the user information that indicates the user's performance inthe fantasy sports contest.
 18. The system of claim 10, wherein thecontrol circuitry is further configured to: display, in response to userselection of the media and in response to determining that the mediaincludes the real-life sports player, fantasy sports contest informationassociated with the real-life sports player in conjunction with videofor the media.